by Deacon Tom O’Loughlin, St. Leo Parish

Second Sunday of Advent 2025

I often look to examples of living faith, faith in action of people who humbly serve others, and, in turn, serve God. I see it in the volunteers who offer clothing, do laundry, and hand out sandwiches and coffee or hot chocolate to people who have little.

I see it in people like Sue Hudacek, who served as the Volunteer Coordinator for L’Arche Tahoma Hope for decades. Sue passed away unexpectedly in her sleep last night. L’Arche serves developmentally disabled adults in small Christian communities where they are honored as “core members” and those who assist them are called “assistants.” David Rothrock and Father Peter Byrne began L’Arche Tahoma Hope in 1977 when they were leading St. Leo’s and living in a house on Yakima. Greg and Freddy stopped there one night for dinner and returned each night until David and Peter invited them to live at their house. Then others came. 

I can see Sue’s gentle and welcoming spirit holding people in her arms after they were baptized by John the Baptist. They might be crying from their conversion, they might be upset from years lost, they might desire more. Sue would comfort them and tell them how much God loves them. I was blessed to see this once a month during the past year and a half as I was honored to lead Communion Services at L’Arche. Sue, and other Assistants, would welcome core members and involve them with the service.

Last month we changed the Communion Service to a Mass because the St. Patrick School staff would also attend. During the morning, they volunteered at the L’Arche farm. Instead of having 10-20 people participate, we had 50-60 people. A senior priest from the Bellarmine Community, Father Jim McGloin, presided at Mass. As was usual, different core members and assistants, including Sue, shared reflections on the readings and prayers. As usual, we also took a group photo after Mass of everyone.

My favorite photo that I took was during Communion. Debbie, one of the long-term core members, is handing out Communion. Sue is standing next to Debbie, holding the plate with Communion hosts, offering the Body of Christ for Debbie to share. Sue is the smiling, loving servant God called her to be. I will show the photo after Mass if you would like to see it. Sue will be deeply missed by the L’Arche community, by the SEEL Puget Sound community, and by many others.